The New York Yankees have been active in the market the past few days, with general manager Brian Cashman acquiring Corey Kluber and trading for Jameson Taillon.
The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t take away any significant minor league assets, but the Yankees did add a potentially fantastic starter in the process. Taillon was a former first-round pick by the Pirates back in 2010. He spent a lot of time with Gerrit Cole climbing the Pittsburgh minor-league system, so they’re good friends.
Cole’s relationship with Taillon could’ve played a part in his acquisition, but he’s another injury-prone player making his way to the Yankees. He has undergone Tommy John surgery twice in his career, having missed the entire 2020 season and most of the 2019 season due to injury. The Yankees are taking another risk on a cost-efficient player, as he will earn just $2.25 million in 2021.
Nonetheless, Cashman is still looking for ways to open up money, as he has holes to fill and possibly a bullpen arm to acquire. With that in mind, reports have indicated that Adam Ottavino could be on his way out, given the Yankees can find a trade partner.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the Yankees are trying to trade Adam Ottavino:
Opposing executives say the Yankees have been looking for partners to move as much of Adam Ottavino’s $9 million luxury tax number for 2021 as possible.
Ottavino will count $9 million against the luxury tax in 2021, and at 35 years old, he had a tumultuous 2020 season. In fact, he only pitched 18.1 innings, logging a 5.89 ERA but was consistent with his strikeouts, earning 12.27 strikeouts per nine. However, the sample size is so minuscule it’s not even worth considering.
While Otto did have a tough 2020 campaign, he was stellar in 2019 with the Bombers, recording a 1.90 ERA over 66.1 innings. This seems to be more about price-tag than anything else, as it is possible he makes a bounce back this upcoming campaign and shows why the Yankees signed him in the first place.
It seems as if Cashman still wants to add an outfielder and possibly another starting pitcher, but he has very little money to spend at this point. Ownership is pressing him to stay underneath the $210 million luxury tax threshold, so expect to see a few salary dumps in the coming days as Adam leads the group.